Path to Happiness
by Forbidden Shadows
Summary: My childhood was shrouded in darkness and from that I had become distant when talking to people, my face masked with indifference. However, after spending a year and a half with my twin brother, something stirs within me and I wonder if I had truly found happiness.
1. Chapter 1: The Nest

**Disclaimer: **I don't own DN.

**A/N:** This fanfiction was written for CandyDelight's Fanfiction Event hosted on DN NA's forums, so all characters mentioned within are either her characters or NPCs. Hope everyone enjoys it! :)

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**Chapter One**: The Nest

"Twin, you need to be more expressive!" the pale blonde haired boy said. "You need to tell this hunk of stone what he did wrong to deserve this explosive end." The boy wrinkled his nose against the acrid smell of burnt things and gave the pile of badly scorched gray stone a quick kick, sending some pieces rolling towards me.

Swinging my shield onto my back to free up my left hand, I bent over to pick up one of the smaller stone pieces that had landed next to me. Most of the stones were of a gray color, however, the one that is now in my palm had once been a brilliant shade of blue, a color that I loved. The scorch marks on the lower half of the stone had left an intricate pattern of darkness to it.

"It's already dead." I said as I kept my expressions neutral. "It cannot hear any of my words nor see any of my expressions... It would not have made a difference." These stones that now lay scattered throughout the clearing had once been a part of an entity that stood in our way, and thus, it had to be destroyed. How else would we be able to clear out this nest?

"It would have made a difference if you had done it before you gave the final blow," the lovely slender girl, who was standing behind my twin, said. Before anyone could stop her, she held out her grimoire and pointed her wand at the seal embedded in the portal. Her waist length ivory hair streamed out behind her as she summoned up a powerful wave of heat with an ear piercing yell. Within seconds, the seal had melted. A soft hum in the background indicated that the portal was now properly functioning.

"Djoey!" My twin shouted above the distant rumbling that had started to sound. "We were having such a nice conversation with my dear brother and you just end it by your eagerness of scorching things to death." He shook his head as he looked into her light blue eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I was just demonstrating the technique that you were trying to describe to him." Djoey playfully nudged him. "And I am sure Stars benefited from having a visual to accompany those words of yours with."

I blinked as the conversation suddenly turned on me. Heat rose from my body and started to pool in my cheeks. I suppose I had benefitted from that demonstration, but if I was being honest with myself, I had been focused on staring at the most beautiful girl in the world. Quickly, I shook the thought away, cleared my throat, and schooled my expression back into one of indifference.

"We have an irritated winged creature casting balls of dark magic on the other platform." I pointed to where the beast stood. "We should probably engage it in a fight before it flies elsewhere and starts wrecking havoc."

"But we don't have a plan of attack," my twin said. His earlier joking mood vanished as the subject turned back into a serious conversation.

"This can't be that different from the original nest we cleared so many times already. Everything up to this point had been the same. We will be fine," Djoey said.

"But this is in the False Stronghold. We can't be sure that the manticore will be the same dumb beast as in the original nest."

"Sweets, this is nothing we can't handle. Besides, don't you have any confidence in my skills or in your own?" Djoey gave my twin an innocent look. Sweets rolled his eyes, but he started to cast his blessings and Protection Shell on us. I threw the little blue stone back into the pile on the ground before swinging my shield back into my left hand.

As the last of the dark magic dissipated on the other platform, we gave each other one last glance before stepping into the portal together. The light sensation of the teleporting didn't bother me, but what did bother me was that my vision became foggy. It reminded me of the years before I met Sweets and joined the clerics.

Suddenly, the light sensation faded and I felt solid ground underneath my feet. The moment my vision cleared, I immediately moved slightly to the left, so that I had a clear shot of the manticore's left wing. Likewise, Sweets was mirroring my movement, except that he was moving slightly to the right. This formation left Djoey in between the two of us, so that she has access to our heals any time during the battle. I was, however, a bit closer to her since my relics have a smaller range than my brother's.

"Let's do this!" Djoey shouted as she conjured up a wall of fire in front of the manticore. Simultaneously, my brother and I summoned our lightning relics, mine a bit smaller than his, on the left and right side of the fire, cutting off the manticore's direct advancement on us.

The manticore gave a roar as he created more balls of dark magic and shot them at us. Dashing forward a little bit to avoid getting hit by the magic, I casted my Cure Relic to boost my light attacks. Then, I directed a shot of Chain Lightning towards the manticore's left wing.

The manticore's wing shuddered under the impact of the lightning and it turned its yellow eyes on me. Faintly, to my right, I heard a "take that" and saw a bolt of lightning strike its right wing. Halfway in its turn, the manticore got hit in the face with a full blast of flames. It shook its head from left to right, probably trying to get rid of the burning sensation on its skin.

Since it was distracted, I casted all my lightning skills in rapid succession towards its left wing. I had expected the wing to fold in on itself after all the shocks it received, but it looked as if it was unharmed. Seeing that the manticore was still distracted and pawing its face, I dashed in and casted Consecration. I moved back out of range and continued to cast lightning skills.

"I can't seem to destroy the wing!" I shouted to my companions. In the original nest, I had always been able to destroy its wings with ease. I looked towards its right wing and could see that it was still unharmed. It seems Sweets wasn't successful in destroying it either.

The manticore looked up then and stared at me, hatred flashing in its eyes. Letting out another roar, it reared up on its hind legs and its front paws came down with incredible speed and force. I was still in the process of backing away when I felt the tremor on the ground. The next thing I knew, I was sailing backwards through the air.

I landed on the ground on my back with a loud thud as the wind was knocked out of me. Gasping in a couple of breaths, I lifted my head to look for my companions. But before I could get a glimpse of them, pain lanced through my head and my vision blurred. The manticore's roar was suddenly too loud for my ears and I covered them with my hands. It would not wait for us to recover. I tilted my head slightly and could see balls of dark magic forming.

Seeing how I was running out of time, I summoned my heal relic. It cleared my head instantly and I searched for my companions, hoping that they were all right. I spotted the two of them lying a couple feet away. Wasting no time, I staggered to my feet and moved in their direction while casting Aura of Healing.

Almost instantaneously, the Aura of Healing took effect and the pain was slowly ebbing, but I knew that one heal wasn't strong enough to chase all the pain away. It was, however, enough to help my two companions get to their feet.

All three of us dashed forward so that the balls of magic wouldn't hit us. Once we were safe from the magic, Sweets immediately casted his Aura of Healing, followed by Holy Shield on all of us. The feeling of holy power filling my body was great and I felt much more refreshed. Djoey, however, was already facing the manticore, an endless stream of fire emitting from the tip of her wand.

"Focus on the face. The wings aren't as vulnerable as we thought it would be," I yelled. "Position two." Sweets gave me a small nod and I ran up next to Djoey. The two of us would be attacking while Sweets was slightly in the back and going support.

Together, Djoey and I unleashed spells after attack spells and Sweets summoned relics and casted heals in between. We kept the manticore distracted enough that it couldn't get an attack in and, soon, it was starting to weaken.

While we focused mainly on the head, we also attacked each of the front legs. When the front legs started to crumble, Sweets moved closer to the head, continuing to distract it, and Djoey and I started attacking its hind legs.

Finally, the hind legs gave out and the manticore was lying sprawled on the ground. With a final expressive yell, Djoey unleashed a potent Volcanic Vortex. After a few seconds and the manticore hadn't made another move, Djoey looked over at me, giving me a brilliant smile, and raised her hand for a high five. However, as I was contemplating whether or not to return the gesture, in my peripheral vision, I saw the manticore's hind leg twitch.

"Watch out!" I screamed while pushing Djoey out of the way. The next moment, I felt the manticore's large feet kick into my stomach and found myself flying through the air for the second time. I tried to right myself before I fell, however, I was too exhausted from the battle and previous injuries to do it properly.

The last thing I heard was my bones cracking against the ground.

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**A/N:** Thanks for reading! Please leave a review if you've got time. :D


	2. Chapter 2: Guardian Angel

**Chapter Two**: Guardian Angel

I awoke to the throbbing ache in the right side of my body and tried to adjust my position to ease the pain. However, the more I moved, the more uncomfortable I felt. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I ceased any movement.

Instead, I tried to clear my head and recall the events before this point in time. The memories of going to the nest, fighting all the guardians of the seals, and the final battle with the manticore crashed into my mind. Abruptly, forgetting the pain, I opened my eyes and sat up. "Djoey!"

The first thing I noticed was the dimness and I started to panic as to whether or not I was losing my sight. We had went to the nest at around noon. I had expected it to be bright. The second thing that came searing into my mind was the fire in the right side of my body. Gasping in surprise, I toppled back down and noticed that whatever I was laying on was soft.

Immediately, I felt a hand on my forehead. A young face appeared in front of me. With bangs partially covering his bright red right eye, only his bright green left eye showed fully. And it was twinkling with amusement. His mouth was turned up in a big smile. "She's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"That's good," I said. One side of my mouth quirked up in the beginnings of a smile as I rejoiced in the fact that she was all right. Then, another thought crashed into me and I panicked. "She's not here, is she?"

"It would have been interesting indeed if she was here listening to you say her name over and over in your sleep." Sweets rolled his eyes and his smile grew even bigger. "Though I am hurt that you didn't say my name. I was there fighting too, you know."

I knew I talked in my sleep. My mother had told me, but I didn't think it'd be a problem. Then, realizing that Sweets knew, I blinked in shock. "Wait... you've been spying on me while I slept?" I gave him a hard and accusing glare, though I felt relieved that Djoey hadn't heard what Sweets claimed I had said.

"How else am I supposed to monitor your condition? You were severely injured. That manticore's last effort to bring us down was much more powerful than I would have thought possible."

"We thought it was dead already, after Djoey basically cooked him."

"You should have seen her after you pushed her out of the way. She wouldn't stop incinerating it until she was satisfied. By then, the carcass was unrecognizable and the air stunk of burnt meat." He gave a small laugh. My heart warmed just imagining the scene. "It was wonderful, but I wasn't really paying much attention to her, even though I wanted to. Instead, I was healing you."

I searched his eyes, wondering what he was trying to get at, but it was still light and that smile was still plastered to his face. "Thank you." I said. Words of thanks didn't come to me as easy as it should have. Being alone for years before meeting Sweets had made it a bad habit. I had to do everything myself, so I didn't need to thank anyone. I was still getting used to it. After all, I've only found Sweets about a year and a half ago.

"What's a brother for?" He gave me a wink.

Feeling all warm again, I squinted to focus in the dimness. I realized that we were in my room and that I was lying in my bed. A chair had been pulled up on the right side of the bed, just a little bit behind where Sweets now stood. A healing relic was positioned right next to the bed. "How did we get here?"

"I hauled you over here, no less. You're really heavy you know."

I shot him another glare. The warmness I had felt earlier dissipated. "Well, I think I should be all right now. You can go do your own things."

"Dismissing me, are you?" He plopped down back on the chair. "I'll be staying the night acting as your own guardian angel. You should be all brand new tomorrow after you get more rest."

"I don't think I can sleep with you watching me like that."

"You've been doing a great job of it so far."

I glared at him yet again, then turned my face away. He can be so annoying sometimes, though it was nice to have someone that cared so deeply. It was a feeling that I had never felt before, not ever since my mother left me at the portal. With that thought in mind, I started to drift off. Talking had seemed to exhaust me quite a bit.

Not too long later, I opened my eyes and found myself upright, standing in a patch of grass. Shadows clung to every thick trunk, every thin branch, every tree in the area. The gentle wind caressed the leaves and grass as it passed through the eerily lit landscape. The moon's bright white light shone through the trees, illuminating the path before me. Without consciously deciding, I strolled down the path. The darkness and the landscape were familiar.

"Mother, why did you lead me here?" a boyish voice sounded further ahead. I picked up pace until I was full out running through the forest, following the path. Faintly, I was aware that my right side didn't hurt, not one bit.

Two figures appeared before me. One, a little boy with spiky dark brown hair, and the other a tall woman with long flowing hair dressed in priestess garbs, though it was of a dark color. Recognition crashed into me as I realized that I was looking upon my childhood self.

"See that portal? It will lead you to your future," the woman said. "One that I cannot follow you to."

"Why not?" my younger self asked. "You could walk through the portal with me."

"You know I cannot do that, Stars. My task is to stand guard here, at the Dark Gateway, keeping the nightmares from invading our Goddess' dreams."

"Then I want to stay with you!" The little boy stamped his feet and threw out his hands to clutch the woman's, my mother's, robes. "Don't you love me?"

"Of course I do, but I cannot offer you anything more beyond this darkness. I want more for you. I want you to live a life in the light filled with love and happiness and purpose. You will do great things out in the world, Stars." She looked down into the little boy's eyes and gave a small sad smile. "I was selfish to keep you here with me, but I couldn't sever myself from the brief time I spent with your father."

"I have a father?"

"Of course. And a twin brother as well. Both of them are out there somewhere beyond that portal. You'll be happier with them when you find them."

"But I'm happy here!"

I smiled to myself as I remembered how stubborn I had been. This life of darkness was all I knew and I wanted to stay with my mother. Suddenly, a warm hand gripped my own. I tried to pull my hand away instinctively, but to no avail. I turned my head slightly and saw my mother staring at me with her gray eyes, searching for something. "Claire!"

"Hello, Stars. You're still as distant as ever," she said. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No. Though I wished I hadn't been so alone those five years before I found Saint's Haven and the clerics took me in. It was there I met Sweets. I helped whoever I could before then, but no lasting friendships survived."

"The world can be cold, but I'm glad you found light and love at last. The last time I saw you, during your Inquisitor test, you would not let anyone touch or see your feelings. But now I can see from the way you were smiling that place you had withdrawn to is slowly deteriorating, letting you out to experience the world as you should. Happiness isn't too far away. Look." She pointed to the scene still before us.

A little girl and another little boy, all around the same age as my younger self, were now besides little me. The girl was taking my hand and the other little boy was holding her other one. Both of them were urging little me to go with them.

I had no memories of these two little kids, but when they turned their faces to look at my mother, I could see who they were. It was a younger version of Djoey and a younger version of Sweets. Together, the three of them, stepped into the portal together.

I smiled as I watched them disappear. My mother and the scene faded away as well. I panicked and closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I found Sweets staring at me from his chair with a devious grin on his face. "First Djoey, now Claire. Just how many women do you dream about? Though I have to say, I'm glad you dreamt about me too."

Grabbing the nearest thing within my reach, which was my pillow, I hurled it at Sweets with all the strength I could muster.


	3. Chapter 3: House Arrest

**Chapter Three**: House Arrest

"You're not thinking about escaping, are you?" a young elf with dark brown hair said. "You've been staring at that door for a couple minutes now." She stepped into my field of vision, her dark blue dress blocking my view of the door.

Sighing in exasperation, I shifted my eyes to look at the clock. Eleven in the morning. These past two days have been beyond boring as I was confined to the house on Sweets' orders. I had felt fit enough to continue our daily routines of clearing nests and dungeons, but he insisted that I should take it easy. He even went as far as getting me a jailer.

"Don't you think you're taking this _job_ a little too seriously, LotusElise?" I asked.

"Sweets said to not let you out of my sight or out of the house for that matter."

"Just because he said something, doesn't mean you have to do it."

"Don't you enjoy my company?" Her round glossy gray eyes widened innocently.

"I just don't like being told what I can or can't do." Standing up, I contemplated whether or not I could just push past her and head out the door. I towered over her by about half a foot. Her mouth widened as she took a few steps backwards. Shaking my head, I left the living room and went up to my own room, shutting the door behind me.

I went over to my bookshelf and picked out a book randomly. Without looking at the cover, I hopped into bed. I flipped to a random page and started reading.

_King Cassius, one of Saint's Haven's most renown knight and king, descended from a line of royalty. _

Keeping my finger between the pages, I closed the book and stared at the cover. _Biography of Cassius I_. Great, out of all the books on the bookshelf, I had picked out the most boring one. Having nothing else better to do, I went back to the page I had been reading.

A knock sounded on my door. My eyes flew open and within seconds, the door had burst open. Shaking my head clear and sitting up, I saw Sweets, clad in fighting gear, standing in the doorway.

"Oh good, you were sleeping," he said. He strode through the doorway and into my room. He had several keys in his hands.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I hadn't remembered falling asleep. "Where's LotusElise?"

"She's gone home now that I'm back. Though she was telling me how you kept staring at the door."

"It's very boring being confined in a house."

"So, I have a job for you, since you claim that you are well enough to do some fighting." He tossed the keys he had been holding onto my lap on top of the book.

"Why should I do something for you after you had me practically on house arrest?"

But he ignored me and plowed on. "Belin, unsurprisingly, decided to craft accessories with the wrong stats for Djoey." At the mention of Djoey, I started to listen more intently. "She's beyond furious and just needs a couple more faint technique fragments to try again."

Eager at the prospect of helping Djoey, I jumped out of bed and went to my closet to pull out my favorite dark brown coat and white pants. I hid behind the closet door and I changed into gear. After I was dressed, I slung my shield onto my back and buckled my wand at the waistband.

"Never seen you get into gear that fast. You must be really itching for a fight." Sweets commented as I went back over to the bed to pick up the seven dimensional keys. I shot him a glare before heading out the bedroom door. "Meet me at Djoey's house after you finish!"

I waved a hand at him, acknowledging that I had heard. A breeze of warm wind greeted me as I opened the front door. I strode through the crowded and loud main marketplace without a look back and headed up the stairs. Moving quickly past Tamer Lindsay and up another flight of stairs, I arrived at the gates to the Garden of Eternity.

I swept a quick glance around the whole area, hoping to see the Dimensional Rabbit. Most of the time, he was guiding people through the dimensional rifts and it was hard to catch him when he's not busy. Thankfully, I spotted the Dimensional Rabbit sitting next to a dark portal. I jogged over and handed him a key.

"Which Chaos Rift would you like to enter?" the rabbit said in a chilling voice.

"Viera." I said. The rabbit nodded and stuck the key into the portal.

"Follow me." The rabbit stepped into the portal. Swinging my red shield into my left hand and unclasping my red wand from my waistband, I followed.

A living minotaur was standing in the center of a round room in front of a skeletal minotaur. I sighed inwardly as I saw the two of them. Sometimes I wondered how this skeletal minotaur kept his job as a guardian, seeing how he was always in need of help fending off monsters.

I dashed forward, summoning a lightning relic in between the two minotaurs. Moving a little bit to the right, I summoned a cure relic, trapping the living minotaur. I let loose in quick succession all my lightning attacks and watched as the living minotaur died quickly under the assault.

I kept my relics up in between the waves of monsters as poochums, ghouls, skeletons, trolls, and smaller minotaurs came out in waves from each of the four portals around the room. Chain Lightning was one of my favorite attacks that worked pretty well as it travelled quickly between enemies. However, Holy Burst and Consecration worked well getting the monsters off of the guardian skeletal minotaur. Before too long, the fight was over and the dimensional rabbit, who had been sitting upon a ledge, jumped down and opened another portal.

Stepping through it, I found I was in a room surrounded by hobgoblin generators and one hobgoblin was already in the middle. Before it could stop me, I let loose a bolt of lightning and it fell within seconds, zapped into ashes. The little goblins working the generators created more hobgoblins. However, once one was created, the generator collapsed upon itself. I never did understood why, but I didn't complain. It was less for me to kill.

Summoning a cure relic in the center of the room, I stood next to it and waited for the hobgoblins. Their little goblin minions were the first to reach me and I let a Holy Burst out to kill them all. Enraged, the hobgoblins lowered their heads and ran towards me. The first hobgoblin's club swung down towards me and I sidestepped to avoid being hit. The second hobgoblin and third hobgoblin ran into the first one as I stepped behind the first one. Satisfied, that all three were together and that the little minions were taken care of, I let loose a Chain Lightning, killing all three in one hit.

The little dimensional rabbit, who had been hiding in the corner, jumped out to the center of the room and opened the third and final portal to the Shadow Heroes. I never understood why anyone could fall in this Chaos Rift, but perhaps that's because I've always only tried it when I know I can beat it with ease. These monster's skill level were far below mine.

Seeing the four Shadow Heroes emerge, I quickly summoned another Cure Relic to boost my attacks. I then fired off another Chain Lightning, watching it do its work for me. The lightning bolt hit each hero once and disappeared. The four Shadow Hero, lay on the ground, unmoving.

Getting up from his seat, the dimensional rabbit came towards me with a small box in his hand. I took it as he opened up another portal back to the Garden. Inside the box contained two faint technique fragments. I tucked those two fragments into my pocket as I gave the rabbit another key.

"Which Chaos Rift would you like to enter?" the rabbit said in the same chilling voice.

And on and on it went. Every single time, I had to help the skeletal minotaur. Just my luck, getting the most annoying stage. I didn't have to kill the hobgoblins as often since Elena and Dragon Cultist Jacob also appeared. The Shadow Heroes were the same as always. By the time I had finished the Chaos Rifts, I had gotten a total of sixteen faint technique fragments. Was that enough for Djoey to get another try at making the perfect accessory?

Dismayed at the small amount of fragments I had gotten, I made a trip to Erwin's marketplace to see if anyone was selling any. I approached the booth and browsed the items he had put on display. However, I didn't see any faint technique fragments and tried to get Erwin's attention. Erwin, as usual, was busy with another customer. I quietly waited for my turn.

Eventually, Erwin came huffing and puffing over to me. "What can I do for you, lad?"

"Do you have any faint technique fragments I could buy?"

"These seem in popular demand today." He turned around and looked through the boxes that lined the back wall of his marketplace. He pulled a drawer out and brought the contents back to me. "I've only got ten left. The seller wants eight gold a piece."

"That's fine. I'll buy them all." I fished into my pocket for the eighty gold that were needed. We made the exchange and I slipped the newly bought fragments into my pocket.

By the time that was finished, the sun was already setting and I made my way back towards my neighborhood. Djoey didn't live too far from us, just a couple houses down. Just as I was about to knock on Djoey's dark brown door, I saw Sweets running up to me with a box in his hands.

He stopped a couple feet from me. "Stars! What are you doing here?"

I blinked. "Didn't you tell me to meet you here?" I peered at Sweets and looked at his box. However, I couldn't see what was inside, though it was emitting a nice sweet smell.

"Yes, yes, of course, but I didn't think you'd be done yet." He was shuffling his feet back and forth uncertainly.

"Rifts don't really take that long to complete." I then identified the smell. "Are those your homemade cookies?"

At that precise moment, the front door burst open. Djoey rushed out and hugged the both of us in turn. "I'm so glad you guys could make it!"


	4. Chapter 4: Secret Surprise

**Chapter Four**: Secret Surprise

Still in shock at being hugged by Djoey, I allowed her to usher me into the house. Originally, I was just going to give her the fragments and then head back home. However, when I walked through the front door, I could see elaborate decorations hanging from the ceilings with all shades of blue, bright red, and bright green streamers. The furniture in the living room had all been pushed to the sides. At the furthest corner, there was a table full of snacks and drinks. There was even soft, melodic music playing in the background.

Uncomprehendingly, I almost gaped at the changes in the house, but caught myself and schooled it back to indifference. I had been here, with Sweets, on many occasions throughout the time we've spent together, but this is the first time I had seen it like this. "What's going on?" I asked to no one in particular. I was still standing just a couple of feet from the front door. Sweets, who was adding his cookies to the snack table, flashed me a big smile. Djoey let out a small giggle besides me.

Suddenly, from the dimly light dining room, three figures jumped out. "Surprise!" they shouted. I recognized LotusElise being one of them and I vaguely remember the other two from several raids. One was the extremely well built boy with reddish brown hair and was wearing a smirk. TankYoshi. The other, a girl, CandySyrups I recalled, had a doll like face though the expression was one I recognized immediately. Indifference.

I stood there, dumbfounded, gaping at the three of them. Why were they here? Were we going on a raid? That was the only explanation that I could come up with for seeing those three here. Though that didn't explain why there were party streamers throughout the house.

"I told you he wouldn't like it," CandySyrups said. Irritation flashed through her eyes as she spoke. I looked at Sweets, then at Djoey, then back at the three of them.

"Wouldn't like what?" I asked. "Am I the only one confused here?"

"You're smart. Put two and two together, Stars," LotusElise said.

"He's never been to a social event. This is new to him." Sweets, striding over to stand with the rest of us, gave me another one of his big smiles. "I figured if I told him that we were hosting a party, he wouldn't have come."

"So how did you get him to come over?" TankYoshi asked.

Sweets, enjoying the attention, eyed me, then focused back on the boy. "I had LotusElise keep him confined in the house for two days, so he was itching to get out towards the end. Then, I told him that Djoey needed more faint technique fragments about an hour ago and off he went. You'd think he'd do anything for Djoey by the way he hurried out the house." Djoey and LotusElise let out a giggle. The TankYoshi gave me a smirk. CandySyrups just stared at me. Horrified, I felt warmth rising in my cheeks.

"And do you have the fragments?" Djoey directed the question at me.

Numbly, I took out the fragments in my pocket with one hand and showed it to them. My mind was going through the events of the last couple days. I had found it a bit weird that Sweets went to the extreme at keeping me confined to the house, though I could never have imagined him tricking me like this. I shot him an accusing glare.

"It's time for you to enjoy the world, brother." He gave me a wink. Not knowing what else to do, I turned to Djoey, palm out, offering her the fragments.

"Aww... Stars, that's nice of you. Thank you!" She gave me another quick hug. Then, she took the fragments from me and set them in the little box sitting on top of the drawer a couple feet away.

"Well, come on, let's get this party going!" LotusElise said and dragged TankYoshi and CandySyrups with her to the living room. Sweets and Djoey escorted me. I hadn't been to a party before and I hadn't been planning on attending one, but it seems this time, I would not have a choice.

Sweets often went to parties and he'd recount how fun they were, how he met new people, and how he enjoyed himself when he came home. However, I've never paid much attention to him and now I wished I did. I didn't know what to expect now and it was terrifying.

When we arrived in the living room, the other three were sitting on the ground in a semi circle around a bottle. Sweets sat down next to TankYoshi and Djoey sat next to CandySyrups. LotusElise was sitting on the other side of TankYoshi and CandySyrups. I just stood there, staring at the bottle, wondering what was so special about it.

Sweets patted the spot next to him and gestured me to sit down. Once sitting beside him, I looked around the circle and noticed that all the girls were on one side and all the guys were on the other side. I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do next.

"Relax, Stars. This isn't any more frightening than fighting monsters." Sweets leaned in to whisper in my ear. And then, turning back to the group, he said, "I think Stars should go first. It'll be that much more memorable for him." The rest of the group grinned at me and nodded their heads vigorously.

"Spin the bottle, Stars!" Djoey gave me a wonderful smile that lit up her light blue eyes.

"Why?" I looked at the bottle then back at the rest of the group. "Why is this bottle so significant?" My voice wasn't the usual bored voice that I had trained it to be. It cracked towards the end.

"Just spin it!" LotusElise could barely contain her excitement. "We'll tell you afterwards!"

Apprehensively, I reached for the bottle and spun it. After what seemed like an eternity, the bottle stopped spinning. The opening was pointed towards LotusElise. She let out a squeal. I looked at her, then towards Sweets, the question evident in my eyes. What had just happened?

Sweets, however, ignored me and gestured for CandySyrups to go next. Without a word, she spun and it the opening pointed towards TankYoshi. Djoey let out a small gasp and Sweets laughed out loud in delight. I looked at them confused. Sweets went to Djoey and TankYoshi walked over to CandySyrups. LotusElise came over and took my hand, pulling me up from my sitting position.

"Since none of us are actually together, we thought it'd be fun to let it come down to chance when picking a dance partner," LotusElise said.

She said something else then, but I had tuned it out. My mind was still stuck on two words. Dance partner. My eyes were sweeping, wildly, back and forth between the other four people and saw that they were paired up.

"What?!" I took a couple of steps back from LotusElise. Shock was contorting my carefully blank features from before.

"Look, he's face is finally showing something," Djoey said. TankYoshi let out a low booming laugh, while Sweets was basically rolling on the floor, holding his sides. LotusElise let out a timid smile before walking towards me, hands reaching for my own, and dragged me back to the group.

"Calm down," LotusElise said. "I am an excellent dancer if I do say so myself. I can show you." I shot a look at the front door, wondering if I had a chance of running out the door before any of them stopped me. LotusElise, however, caught me looking at the door. "You can't escape this," she whispered into my ears.

Shaking my head, I went along with LotusElise. Sweets had composed himself and was facing Djoey. CandySyrups went to her little device and adjusted the music to something slower.

LotusElise turned around and face me. "Since you're new at this, we can just sway to the music. That should be easy enough for you."

I shot one last look at the front door before I felt her hands guide mine to her slender waist. The elf then put her hands on my waist. Her body started swaying to the music, but I stood as rigid as ever. I looked over her head at the other two pairs and found them doing much the same thing. Laughter and whispers caressed the room along with the music.

I found the hands on my waist tighten and started moving left. I turned my attention back to LotusElise.

"Come on! You can do it." The elf coaxed me. "You sometimes do it during battle when you're anticipating an enemy's next move. You can do it here too." Her hands then moved the other direction.

Sighing in resignation, I let her hands guide me. Before long, I was swaying to the music on my own, caught up in the moment. I shook my head in wonder as I found myself doing it.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" LotusElise gave me a small smile. "I'm sorry about the last two days. I know it must have been frustrating to be kept inside without much of an explanation."

"I- I- It wasn't your fault," I sputtered. "There's nothing to be sorry about."

She laughed at that. "You should have seen your expression."

"Seems like I can't contain it from spilling out tonight," my voice dropping uncertainly at the end.

"You should keep it like that, more open. More people will like you." She gave me a wink.

"I doubt it."

She rolled her eyes at me. "You have no idea how many girls I've seen eyeing you when you are running around Saint's Haven. You and your brother have that effect on people."

"I- What?"

"Oh, you're hopeless." Then, turning her head towards the snack table, she said, "Come on. Let's get something to drink." I let her lead me towards the table where she poured a cup of water for me and one for herself.

"Thank you," I said. We leaned against the wall, watching the others as they twirled around the room. It was a sight to behold. Happiness was spread around and all four of them were enjoying themselves. Not too soon later, Djoey and Sweets came over.

"Enjoying yourselves, you two?" Sweets asked. Djoey had gone to the table and had a couple of Sweets' cookies in her hands.

"He's a bore. Doesn't know what to do," LotusElise teased. "Actually, it was a good effort on his part for his first try." I felt warmth rising in my cheeks again.

"He's blushing!" Djoey pointed at me with the hand not holding all the cookies that she was devouring. Hearing that, I flushed even more and tried to turn away.

"Don't be shy!" Sweets said as he poured himself a drink. " Just imagine everyone was me. You're more expressive when you talk to me at home, even if it's shooting me glares and throwing pillows at me." The three of them shared a laugh.

"You're embarrassing him, Sweets!" Djoey said as she nudged Sweets in LotusElise's direction. "I'm sure LotusElise wants to get more dancing in."

Sweets turned to LotusElise and something passed between the two of them. Djoey looked at them expectantly as Sweets offered her his hand. LotusElise took it and the two of them moved back towards the center of the room.

"I wanted to thank you for pushing me out of the way the other day," Djoey said. She stared into my eyes intensely, her light blue eyes wide. The two of us were alone in this corner.

"I- It was no problem."

She gave me a big smile. "You're not mad at Sweets, are you?"

"Not as much as I thought I would be," I said.

"This surprise party, it's a thank you gift, but also a way to show you what it's like to be surrounded by a lot of people who care about you. You're always so distant, keeping everyone away with your indifference when talking to them or with your threatening expression during battle. Sweets said that it was because of your lonely childhood."

"He said what?" I hadn't known Sweets knew anything about my childhood. We've never talked about it.

She ignored me. "And he said that when you talk to him, you're beginning to show your true feelings. So I thought, between the two of us, you wouldn't be so lonely anymore. You'll leave that dark and lonely place behind."

I blinked. It was so similar to what Claire had said to me in my dream. _That place you had withdrawn to is slowly deteriorating, letting you out to experience the world as you should._

"Would you like that?" She turned to face me with an earnest expression on her face. I looked at her beautiful face and knew, without a doubt, that if anyone could chase the darkness away within me, it'd be her and Sweets.

"I think that I would enjoy that immensely," I said.

And I gave her my first full smile in a long time.


End file.
